Cafe Inquiry

Note Location: We will be in Walt Whitman Room. Entrance is on 9th St SE. Elevator access available. Overflow room available in case of higher turnout to ensure all attendees receive adequate opportunities to participate.

Cafe Inquiry is our monthly casual get-together to meet people and discuss topics of science and humanism.

This month's discussion: Should the United States have more restrictive gun laws? Can it, constitutionally?

The US suffers greater far death from gun violence than any other advanced country, with, according to UN statistics, about 10,000 people per year killed by bullets (10.3 per 100,000), compared to about 180 in Canada (0.6 per 100,000), 40 in the UK (0.1 per 100,000) and 170 in Germany (0.2 per 100,000). Yet a pro-gun faction and its powerful lobbying arm, the NRA, stubbornly resist the lightest restrictions. Even massacres of children in school, such as Columbine and Sandy Hook, have not led to gun control as similar incidents did in other countries.

Is gun control effective? Is it moral? Would it work in the US as it has elsewhere? Considering the 2nd Amendment, is it constitutional? What role does identity rather than a rational calculus of safety play for gun advocates? Should their identity be more important than other people's lives? And can we accommodate the legitimate needs of gun owners while adopting rational gun control?

No outside food or drink allowed. Free and open to the public.

We are also planning to go out for food and/or drinks afterwards.

Interested in leading a discussion or have someone to recommend? Please contact us at dc[at]centerforinquiry.net.

The venue is wheelchair accessible. People with disabilities who anticipate needing accommodations or who have questions about physical access may email sdavis [at] centerforinquiry [dot] net in advance of the event.